A superlative effort from Marcus Stoinis (124* off 63), flanked by vital cameos at the death from Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda earned Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) a famous away win at Chepauk over the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Despite a century from captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and a six-hitting show from Shivam Dube, CSK suffered their first home defeat of the season.
Where was the match won?
Very little separated the two sides in all three phases. It came down to overpowering CSK’s turbo-charged death-overs performance, when Stoinis gladly put his hand – and bat – up.
The death-overs difference
| Parameters | CSK | LSG |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/1 | 76/1 |
| Run-rate | 15 | 16.89 |
| 4s/6s | 4/8 | 8/5 |
Chennai Super Kings
PowerPlay: Blinders, fours but nothing over the top
Phase Score: 49/2 [RR: 8.16, 4s/6s: 7/0]
While not being at the non-striker’s end watching KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda take blinders to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell, the CSK captain played some gorgeous, field-piercing strokes. CSK had another poor opening stand, broken in the first over, but Ruturaj Gaikwad hit six of the seven fours in this phase. It wasn’t as easy to bat on this tacky surface, and CSK didn’t get a single six in this period.
Middle Overs: Gaikwad gets 50; Dube gets going…
Phase Score: 86/1 [RR: 9.55, 4s/6s: 8/2]
Change of pace was Lucknow pacers’ currency as both Stoinis and Yash Thakur resorted to it. Sixes still didn’t come early in this period but CSK hit at least one four in each over after the PowerPlay leading up to the 12th. Without a six, Gaikwad reached a 28-ball 50 before Mohsin Khan dismissed Jadeja for 16 off 19 off a back-of-length slower ball. Dube stepped out next, to open up the six-hitting flood gates. He got CSK started with the first of the innings in the 13th over off Stoinis. Gaikwad followed suit by hitting one off the Australian in the 15th over, which earned CSK 16 runs. And then followed the 30-ball carnage…
Death Overs: Boom goes Dube
Phase Score: 75/1 [RR: 15.00, 4s/6s:4/8]
The towering left-hander hit more sixes off three balls from Thakur than how much CSK had hit in all the overs leading up to the 16th. Gaikwad got a 56-ball century, but Dube well and truly eclipsed his captain’s efforts by tonking six of the eight sixes hit in this five-over period. The bowlers just couldn’t keep out of Dube’s vast hitting arc and faced the music as he finished with a 27-ball 66. He and Gaikwad added 104 off 47 balls, taking CSK to 210/4 in 20 overs.
Lucknow Super Giants
PowerPlay: Early inroads and a stuttered start
Phase Score: 45/2 [RR: 7.5, 4s/6s: 7/0]
Deepak Chahar finally got some swing and struck straightaway, like he’s done in previous seasons. Some gentle lateral swing got Quinton de Kock to play one ball onto his stumps to rock the boat in the opening over. KL Rahul threw caution to the wind like he’s done this season, but a sharp catch from Gaikwad on the edge of the 30-yards circle at cover put LSG in trouble. Stoinis and impact substitute Devdutt Padikkal dragged the team to an underwhelming score at the end of six overs. The only respite was that CSK too got a similar score in that period.
Middle Overs: Stoinis, Pooran keep the flame flickering on
Phase Score: 92/1 [RR: 10.2, 4s/6s: 5/4]
It was one step forward, two steps back as Stoinis managed to tonk Jadeja and Moeen Ali, but Padikkal got stuck. It wasn’t until the 11h over when Matheesha Pathirana put him out of his misery at a 19-ball 13, bringing Pooran to the middle. In the next four overs, the big-hitting batters sowed the seeds of the stirring turnaround as they went after Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman. 49 came off those four overs to keep the flame flickering on, and yet LSG needed 74 to get from the last five.
Death Overs: Stoinis silences Chepauk
Phase Score: 76/1 [RR: 16.89, 4s/6s: 8/5]
Stoinis took a break briefly when Pooran decided to turn the tables on CSK in the 16th over from Thakur, hitting him for two sixes over deep extra cover and a four behind point. Pathirana took out the West Indian in the 17th – for the fourth time in T20s – to still keep the two points closer to CSK’s grasp but Stoinis didn’t give up. He and Hooda hit a six each off Mustafizur and picked 15 of the over to take the equation down to 32 off 12. Stoinis welcomed Pathirana in the 19th over with a crunching drive through extra cover for four, followed by two boundaries for Hooda – one off the outside edge of his bat. Pathirana went for 15 in the over, leaving Mustafizur to defend 17 in the last. Stoinis needed just three legal and one no-ball to wrap that up in style, as he went 6 4 4 4 to cap off a memorable night on the road for his team.
What next for the teams?
CSK have a four-day gap before hosting the free-spirited SRH on Sunday (April 28). LSG host the table-toppers RR on Saturday (April 27).
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 210/4 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108*, Shivam Dube 66; Matt Henry 1-28) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 213/4 in 19.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 124*, Nicholas Pooran 34; Matheesha Pathirana 2-35) by 6 wickets
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